What's Your Nature?

Become a Nature Up North explorer to share your encounters with wild things and wild places in New York's North Country. Post your wildlife sightings, landscape shots, photos from your outings, and even your organization's events!

Just Our Nature - news, updates and insights

In honor of Thanksgiving, I’m going to pause and give thanks for a North Country native, the wild turkey. Likely you’ve seen these large birds traveling in flocks along the side of the road. But did you know that they were once rare in these parts? And across the country? The abundance of wild turkeys across North America is a real conservation success story. And, oddly enough, the story of the…

At this time of year crows flock to US cities by the thousands to roost in urban trees. The North Country is no exception, as illustrated in recent news stories about Watertown’s efforts to scare off more than 30,000 crows from city landmarks. In previous years, Watertown has hired private contractors to chase crows from their roosts using remote-controlled aircraft, distress calls,…

If you’ve climbed nearby mounts Arab or Azure, you can attest to the view-enhancing benefits of a summit fire tower. The climb to a fire tower’s observation deck affords a commanding 360 degree view of the surrounding landscape. Adirondack fire towers are relics of Park history. In 1903 and 1908 severe forest fires burned over a million acres of Adirondack forests, prompting officials to…

Few trees are as quintessential to our North Country character as the sugar maple. They are vital to our forests, providing habitat for many other species. In the fall we watch in admiration as sugar maple crowns turn to brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red. Maple wood is sought after by homebuilders and craftsmen for its toughness and the beauty of its grain. In the springtime we tap…

We are pleased to share a post from our local wandering celestial minstrel, Jeff Miller. Please read on below to find out what's happening in the night sky this week!
Every year, from mid-July to the end of August, the Earth experiences the Perseid meteor shower. A meteor shower occurs when the Earth passes through the debris trail left in space by a comet. The Perseid shower is caused by comet…

Amidst the hot and the wet, summer programming has begun with Nature Up North! Our first week of programming was a blast of campfire songs, goose wrangling and Little River paddling. We kicked off the summer with a dendrology canoe trip on the Little River. After safety and techniques were covered, our group of paddlers, ranging from first timers to seasoned veterans, ventured out to enjoy the…

We are pleased to share a blog post from Maria Corse, one of the explorers that joined us on Wednesday for the annual goose drive at Wilson Hill! There will be a link to her blog at the bottom of this post, please check it out!
Billed as the Annual North Country Goose Round-up, today’s adventure with the Nature Up North Crew from SLU was filled with an abundance of fun, sweat, sunburn and just…

Late spring in the North Country sees the welcome of new goslings, cubs, pups, kits, chicks and fawns and this year at Nature Up North, interns! For Summer 2013 two St. Lawrence students, Jack Holby and David Pynchon, will join the program and help kick off the first season of Nature Up North programming.
Jack is from Upper Black Eddy, PA and is an outdoor recreation enthusiast. He is the vice…

Welcome to Nature Up North!
As always this time of year puts me in mind of mud puddles and rubber boots and cool rainy evenings spent lying in the grass listening to the shrill chorus of spring peepers. It’s been a long time since I’ve jumped in mud puddles and much of the time I find my inner child warring with the adult I’ve become. When did I begin to lose touch with the natural world? When…